


Sleeping in on Sundays

by ReaderOfFics817



Category: Madam Secretary
Genre: F/M, Interviews
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26410651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReaderOfFics817/pseuds/ReaderOfFics817
Summary: Elizabeth does an interview for Cosmo, with the results surprising her poor kids and Russell Jackson. Totally random, currently mid-binge on Netflix and this popped into my head.
Relationships: Elizabeth McCord & Henry McCord, Elizabeth McCord/Henry McCord
Comments: 8
Kudos: 56





	Sleeping in on Sundays

“You want me to do an interview with Cosmo? You’re joking right?” Elizabeth barged in to Russell’s office, giving him a taste of his own medicine. 

“Elizabeth, you are the face of the female vote, we have an election coming up, it’s one of the top magazines in the country, you’re doing it.” 

“Have you ever opened a Cosmo magazine?” She asked exasperated. She read Cosmo, it was her guilty pleasure used to unwind after a long week, but it was all sex, make-up, fashion, and more sex. Not that she wasn’t all about women’s empowerment and being confident with that stuff, but she had to weigh those opinions with her very public, very professional job. Some constituents would crucify her just for associating with a magazine that promoted sex so blatantly. 

“No. But look, they just want to ask you a few questions about your job and life. You’re the most powerful woman in the world, young women look up to you.” He knew flattery was sometimes the way to get her to do things. 

“….FINE. But, if they ask me about my sex life, I swear to God Russell.” She walked out of his office pointing at him. 

“Why would they — ?” He rattled off, but she was already gone. Maybe he should have picked one up before agreeing she would do the interview. 

—- 3 Days Later —- 

“M’am, Cosmo is here.” Blake knocked on her door, trying to hide his smirk. 

“Great. Send them in.” Elizabeth threw the file she was reading on to her desk, obviously not thrilled. 

“Madam Secretary, it is an honor to meet you! I’m Caroline.” The reporter walked into her office introducing herself, “And thank you so much for agreeing to this, our readers absolutely adore you.”

“No problem, and please call me Elizabeth.” She plastered on her best government-sponsored smile she used on half the diplomats of the world, “We can sit over here, I’ve been at my desk all morning. You want a coffee?” 

“Sure, thank you.” 

“On it.” Blake ran out the door as the two women sat down, Elizabeth basically flopping on to her couch. 

“Do you mind if I record?” Caroline asked pulling out her notebook. 

“Go ahead.” 

She clicked on the recorder, “First of all, I want to thank you again for taking time out of your very busy schedule to talk to us. Our readers have been begging for an interview since you started, so we’re absolutely thrilled to be able to do this.” 

“Really, my pleasure.” 

“So, why don’t we start by you telling me a little bit about how you got this position and your life prior to the State Department.” 

Elizabeth spoke education, her time with the CIA, and her long working relationship with the President. She spoke of why she quit, deciding to focus on family, but then being approached after the death of the last Secretary of State. The interview was going smoothly, moving on to talking about her day to day role, and her love for the job. She was pleased none of the questions were bordering on invasive, or even unprofessional for the role she was in. 

Blake walked in a few minutes after they began, coffees in hand, “M’am, Henry called, he said he’d be a little late for lunch. Your afternoon meeting isn’t until 2 pm, so I told him that was fine.” 

Elizabeth smiled, it was rare they found the time to do lunch, but my some grace of God they both had light schedules today, “Okay, thanks Blake.” 

“Henry is your husband, right?” Caroline switched topics, using the opportunity. 

Oh, here we go, Elizabeth thought. “Yeah, we try to fit in lunch when we can.” 

“You’ve been married twenty five years, right?” 

“Just about twenty six, known him almost thirty now which is crazy.” She smiled brightly, without even meaning to. 

“I know the media doesn’t always portray reality, but you two seem genuinely happy. Can you tell me about him?” 

“You know, my daughter Allie asked me once if I had ever met anyone that changed the way I look at the world, that made me want to be a better version of myself. That person for me is Henry. He’s just so …. Good. You know?” She paused, thinking of her response, “He’s an amazing Dad and has been nothing short of extraordinary since I took this job. He’s the strongest grounding presence I have, keeping me sane, when the world is insane. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without him.” 

“Doesn’t hurt that he was named top arm-candy in politics either does it?” Caroline joked. 

Elizabeth laughed, “He’s the best kind of arm-candy, just as cute as the day I met him, if not more so.” 

“A lot of couples in long term relationships struggle, especially after thirty years, to keep the romance alive. How do you guys do it?” 

“I mean, we’ve hit our speed bumps like any couple. We’ve even gone to therapy a few times when we needed to. But, ultimately, we’re on the same team, we love each other, so we make the time. ” Avoiding the real question, but answering it in a way she’s not blatantly avoiding, very peace-maker of her she thought. 

“Plenty of couples spend time together, but lose intimacy, which has been shown to be an important contributor to health and happiness throughout ones lifetime. How do you find the time with such a demanding schedule for that part of a relationship?” 

Whomp, there it is, she thought. Well, nothing to be ashamed of, and she warned Russell, so his problem, not hers if there’s backlash. “Spontaneity, mostly.” She sighed, but then smiled, “Henry has the uncanny ability to still give me butterflies after all these years…which sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud…but, yeah, spontaneity…mostly.” 

“Mostly?” 

Shit, she thought, this woman could be a CIA analyst, picking up on her own subconscious use of words. “God, I hope my kids don’t read this, but Sundays…” She answered, “Sundays are for sleeping in, barring any world catastrophe.” She laughed. 

“If one of the top world diplomats can find time to sleep in, we all can, am I right?” Caroline joined in her laughter, continuing with the innuendo. 

“Only if you want to. Everyone’s relationship is their own, there’s no rule on what’s normal.” Elizabeth shrugged. 

“Fair point.” Caroline smiled, the readers are going to love this. 

— One month later —- Sunday Morning —- 

“Mom!! I didn’t know you did a Cosmo interview!! Why didn’t you tell me?! That’s so bad ass!” Allie ran in with a copy she bought on her way home, after meeting her friends for Sunday brunch. 

“Really? Cosmo? That’s not much better than a tabloid.” Jason piped up. 

“I tried to talk Russell out of it, but apparently it gets the young voters… which obviously he was right about.” She nodded towards Allison, who was flipping through the magazine looking for the interview, “But, Noodle,” she tried to snatch the magazine, “Please don’t read that.”

“Why not? Abby and Sarah both said you were their hero after reading this.” 

“Really?” 

“Really. You’re like the coolest Mom in school now.” She found the article. 

“Fine, read it. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Read it to us!” Stevie looked up from her computer, “Mom, really that’s super awesome.” 

“I don’t love that you’re both so familiar with these magazines… Why can’t you stay my babies forever? Huh?” 

They both rolled their eyes, before Allison started reading, “Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord has taken the world by storm as a political powerhouse, but being a top diplomat is not what she considers her most important job. In our exclusive one-on-one interview Secretary McCord discusses what it’s like to juggle the weight of the world along with raising three kids and being a wife to her husband Henry. She’s a beacon of feminism, proving to the world that us ladies can have it all, if only we go for it…” Allison kept reading, with the whole house now intrigued. It was a good interview, it highlighted her past, her present, and all her accomplishments, talked about her love for her family, and then towards the end Cosmo had to be Cosmo, “Impressive resume aside, Secretary McCord also opened up about her marriage to her husband of 26 years, Henry McCord. Speaking of him brought a lightness to her tough, no-nonsense demeanor that was refreshing to see, as it was obvious that they have what we all strive for in a partner: support, understanding, and passion. She even admitted that he still gives her butterflies, just like the first time they met…Oh my God, Mom, that’s so cute…” Allison interjected seeing her dad pull her mom over to where he was sitting with a smile, before continuing, “That’s no easy feat and even after thirty years together, they still find time for romance and intimacy.” 

At this point Elizabeth had stopped what she was doing, gauging how her kids were reacting to this part of the interview, she wasn’t sure how they would word what she said. Henry had also paused, looking up from his computer, a little nervous about what Allison was about to read. 

“When we asked her advice on keeping that spark alive, even with her crazy schedule and high stress job, she had one answer: “spontaneity… mostly.” What’s she mean by ‘mostly’ you ask? Well, apparently in addition to spontaneity, barring any world catastrophe, Sunday mornings are for sleeping in…at least that’s what they tell their kids.” Allison immediately got quiet slowly reading those last few lines that she refused to voice out loud. Turning towards her parents who were now basically hiding at the end of the dining room table, still in pajamas after sleeping in on this fine Sunday morning, her parent’s current PDA making the whole situation worse. 

“Oh God.” Stevie also turned her attention to them after reading the same line, Elizabeth leaning on Henry’s lap, his arms wrapped around her torso as she sipped her coffee. 

“What does it say?.” Elizabeth reached out for the magazine, completely unsure what else could be in there. Wracking her brain she couldn’t remember saying anything else. Allison quietly handed her the magazine. 

“So, Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord has it all - a job she loves, a family she adores, and a sex life we can all be envious of. If only we could all find our own sexy professor to melt our stresses away on a quiet Sunday morning.”

Henry laughed after reading the line; Elizabeth turning a slight shade of pink. “Well,” Elizabeth paused, “It could have been worse.” 

“How on Earth could it be worse?” Allison practically shouted. 

“At least she didn’t ask — actually you know what, let’s change the subject.” Elizabeth turned even redder. 

“Ok, I’m going to regret this, but give me the magazine. I’m lost.” Jason looked confused grabbing the magazine before anyone could stop him. 

“You really don’t — “ Stevie tried to stop him. 

Too late though, Jason read the line, choking on his orange juice. “Is this why you wouldn’t go for a run with me this morning?” He turned to his father, accusingly. He had recently decided to take up running, something about staying in shape for the next sports season, but felt weird running alone with a security detail. 

Henry went to speak, but just stayed silent, giving Jason the obvious answer. 

“I would have run with you. I love running, it’s good for the endorphins.” Elizabeth interjected. 

“Yeah, so is —“ Henry started without thinking. 

“OH MY GOD. Don’t finish that sentence. I’m leaving. This is enough parent-induced trauma for one day.” Stevie stood, putting her bowl in the sink. 

“Me too.” Allison stood. 

“I’m going for my run.” Jason stood, picking up his headphones. 

“Still want a running partner?” Elizabeth asked innocently. 

“No.” He looked at his mother like she was out of her mind. 

“In that case, I’m going back to bed.” Henry stood, starting to find the whole thing hilarious, “Madam Secretary?” He reached out his hand, causing Elizabeth’s jaw to drop, before the smile she was trying to hide made an appearance. 

“Seriously!?” All three kids looked absolutely horrified as they practically turned to run out the door, 

“Bye kids! Enjoy your day!” Elizabeth yelled, before her and Henry erupted into a fit of giggles, “Ok, that was cruel.” 

“It worked though, kids are gone, no world catastrophe as of yet, let me melt those stresses away.” He winked. 

“And how do you plan on doing that, Professor?” Elizabeth flirted, taking his hand to follow him up the stairs, him smirking in response before picking her up over his shoulder and heading up the stairs; her playful shrieks of surprise traveling through their empty house. 

—- Monday Morning — 

“ELIZABETH.” Russell Jackson came storming into her office ignoring her staff that was sitting around her desk, throwing the magazine on her pile of papers as Blake trailed behind trying to announce his arrival. 

“Yes, Russell?” Elizabeth asked calmly, fully expecting his arrival at some point that day. 

“Care to explain?” He eyed the magazine. 

“I warned you. But really, it could have been way worse.” She sighed leaning back in her chair. She knew her staff had already read the article, but none of them had mentioned it, leaving them trying to hide their smirks as Russell continued. 

“WORSE? How could it be worse?! The last thing we need is your sex life plastered all over the world during a campaign!” 

“At least she didn’t flat out ask me if I’ve had sex in the office. She definitely tried to, but I changed the subject.” 

“HAVE YOU?” He shouted, “Actually, don’t answer that.” He stopped her before she could speak, her coworkers now obviously smirking, thoroughly entertained by the interaction. Though no one had walked in on the full monty, a few of them had walked in on enough to cause borderline awkwardness for a few moments. 

“Actually, Sir…” Daisy spoke up, “The administrations polling numbers went up after the article, especially with female voters. They’re saying she’s relatable. It’s rare that a politician has a blatantly healthy relationship, with no scandal. It makes her trustworthy and more human….at least that’s what all the talk shows are saying.” 

“Seriously?” Elizabeth asked. She thought there would be some blow back with conservative groups. 

“Yeah, half the country is saying you’re a symbol of female empowerment and the other half is saying you’re honoring the sanctity of marriage and a good example for future generations.” 

“Well, there ya go Russell. Everyone liked it except for my kids. You’re welcome.” She stood walking over to the coffee machine in her office. 

He stood silent for a moment before speaking, “I’m with your kids on this one, too much information Bess!” 

“Yeah, well, maybe you should try it some time. Sleeping in is great for blood pressure.” She smirked, sitting back down with her coffee. 

The look on his face before he rolled his eyes and left the office in a huff caused the group to openly laugh now. 

“That was fun.” Elizabeth laughed, “Okay, now where were we…” She threw the magazine to the side, returning to the task at hand.


End file.
